Art Maier: The Bible lion

Art Maier

Thursday

May 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMMay 29, 2008 at 9:25 AM

Will Americans ever be in danger of mountain lion attacks as much as Bible-time Israelites were at risk to attacks by the lion? Probably not, although, according to news reports in recent decades, mountain lions have become occasional critical pests.

Will Americans ever be in danger of mountain lion attacks as much as Bible-time Israelites were at risk to attacks by the lion? Probably not, although, according to news reports in recent decades, mountain lions have become occasional critical pests.

As American towns expand, the habitat of the mountain lion is encroached upon in some areas. Bad encounters can be expected. Fortunately, these are rare, and there are controls.

A similar situation, but more difficult to control, arose in Bible lands. Lions lived in the ancient Israelite forest lands. Gradually, the population of Israel territories increased, and soon outskirts of towns and even small cities were close to lion areas. As the Bible presents its many, true histories, we can expect to find a few reports of bad encounters of humans with lions.

The lion of the Bible is what we now call the African lion. Second largest of the cats, the male can extend about 10 feet, from nose to tail tip. A tiger can be larger. The African lion color is the well-known yellow gray. Males have the mane.

The African lion is a carnivorous predator. An unarmed person, if attacked, can be overpowered by the 250 or so pounds of hungry lion strength, teeth and claws.

One scientific name given to this lion species is Pantherena leo. Other scientists have used a slightly different name -- Felis leo. The common name, African lion, comes from the cats’ current well-known range in Africa.

The ancient range of the leo lion included much of Africa, plus large portions of southern Asia, the Mid-East, and, apparently, even Greece.

In Israel, the lion was known all too well. Of course, Israelites did not consider the lion to be any helpful hero as in the currently popular "Narnia" movie. Smart, adventurous hunters learned what they could about habits of lions, the better to kill them.

Still, however smart and well-prepared a hunter might be, slaying a lion in pre-firearm times was risky and demanded courage. The future King David, in his shepherd days, killed a lion that had tried to take a sheep from the flock. In I Samuel Chapter 17, we find a statement suggesting that David was quite proud of this rescue.

Today, for better or worse, the leo lion species has disappeared from much of its Mid-East territory. I met a lady from Israel who said her father killed a lion there, about 1960. The killing -- even the lion discovery -- apparently was considered a rare event.

Harmful though it can be, the powerful lion does has a positive image in some Bible passages.

In the New Testament book Revelation, Christ is called “the Lion that is of the Tribe of Judah” (Chapter 5:5 American Standard Version - 1901). The Israelite Tribe of Judah was the tribe of Christ’s human family. The overall view of the lion suggested Christ’s awesome, totally divine powers.

Christ did indeed conquer death and sin for us. This certainly was a victory of power, as we learn in the Bible.

All who believe in Christ receive forgiveness of sins and will come to life forever in heaven.

The Bible has many true stories, some with animals, from the histories of very remarkable people. Better still, the great reading carries the good news of eternal life with Christ.

Next chance you get, try reading some of the Bible, preferably a modern translation. Start, perhaps, with the New Testament gospel of Luke or John. There in those pages, you will definitely meet the Lion of Judah, Christ himself, who offers eternal life to the world, including you.

Art Maier is a semi-retired teacher, environmental science specialist and calligrapher. He is a contributing editor to Pen World Magazine and has appeared regularly on the “Pepper & Friends” television show, demonstrating for hand disabled persons and others how to use pens. He is a regular columnist for the Boonville Daily News in Boonville, Mo. He can be contacted at artmaier@sbcglobal.net.

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